Wednesday, October 12, 2016

U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro recently toured homes in
Providence before announcing the agency’s proposal for tighter regulation on
lead levels in children living in HUD-assisted housing.

“This important change to
HUD's 17-year-old Lead Safe Housing Rule will allow for an earlier response
when a child under 6 years old is exposed to lead-based paint hazards in their
HUD-assisted homes," HUD announced in a press release. Castro said that
the proposed change could impact approximately 2.9 million subsidized and
public housing units constructed prior to the 1978 ban on residential lead
paint.

Castro toured a three-family
home at 14 Dutton St. with U.S. Senator Jack Reed and Barbara Fields, Executive
Director of Rhode Island Housing. The homes, which were formerly
lead-contaminated, were cleaned up using federal funds.

Rhode Island's health department reports
the number of lead-poisoned children has declined over the past ten years, but
935 children in the state will be entering kindergarten this year with elevated
levels of lead in their blood. Lead poisoning can cause irreversible health,
learning, and behavioral problems.

"It is the most
vulnerable Americans who face the most risk of environmental hazards. We're
always looking for ways to keep our youngest residents safe and healthy,” said
Castro.